RFA confirms all accurate reception reports by mailing a QSL card to the listener. RFA welcomes all reception report submissions at www.techweb.rfa.org (follow the QSL REPORTS link) not only from DX’ers, but also from its general listening audience. Reception reports are also accepted by email at qsl@rfa.org , and for anyone without Internet access, reception reports can be mailed to: Reception Reports, Radio Free Asia, 2025 M. Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036 United States of America. Upon request, RFA will also send a copy of the current broadcast schedule and a station sticker.

Northwoods RadioNorthwoodsradio@yahoo.com6925USB *2132-2146* 6/15/08 SIO=242-. Odd program of mostly novelty music. Squealing noises at times and some garbled talk. No ID until the close, when they gave an ID with their slogan of broadcasting from the Great Lakes. Generally poor intelligibility. No address heard. (Zeller-OH)

Radio Maple Leaf6925USB 6/22 2340-0015 (presumed per entry at HFUnderground) There was a break in the middle, so I'm not sure if I heard 1 or 2 stations. Lots of music by Blue Rodeo, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, making me wonder if this is from Canada. 40 meters has been quite noisy lately,and had to use my transceiver's filtering just to hear anything. Announcements by OM. PSE QSL (will reimburse). (J. Miller, MI)

The Crystal Ship5385 and 6700. 6/23 0151 Both pretty bad in Greenback. (Wood TN).5385.5 AM 0258-0330+ 6/23/08 SIO=433/232. Program of classic rock including Age of Aquarius from Hair, the Turtles Happy Together, Green Tambourine, Henry the 8th with Herman's Hermits, and similar tunes. IDs by male/female,less political material than usual. Announced // on 6700 was nothing but a het here. Eventually faded out. (G. Zeller-OH)

This week on Curious Orange... it's the second part of our series on classical music, the Dutch way.The host of our Live from the Concertgebouw series Hans Haffmans will, once again, tell us all about the classical music tradition here in Holland. This week we'll hear about contemporary classical music and the festival tradition here in the Netherlands.

Earthbeat this week looks at why there's a desperate need for naval escorts to take food into Somalia. We hear of a technology that sucks up oil seepage from shipwrecks. We look at the deadly cost of malaria and discover why medicines for this disease that claims millions of lives every year have been so slow to come on the market, and we hear of the treatment of malaria in Myanmar.

27 TUESDAY 1 JULYThe State We're In, Midweek ReportJonathan Groubert and his team look at current events from an unexpected perspective

This week in TSWI, reporter Jonah Engle tells host Jonathan Groubert about how African American victims of crime in Newark, New Jersey have so little faith in law enforcement and so great a fear of retribution, that they have simply stopped reporting crimes, even murders, to the police.

We look at the right to clean air. Scientists from the Dutch National Institute of Public Health and the Environment tell Jonathan exactly what clean air is and why, when and how it gets polluted. A denizen of Bankok tells us that she loves walks walking so much, she's willing to ignore the pollution, as well as the furrowed brows of the middle classes. And a Dutch SUV owner explains why he feels he has the right to pollute the air if he wants to.

Finally, there's peace in Northern Uganda after decades of war, but not all of the fighters, most of the children, have returned home, often for fear of retribution. But as Journalist Pieternel Gruppen tells Jonathan, radio is now being used to convince them to come out of the bush and home to their communties.

27 TUESDAY 1 JULYBridges with Africa [repeat programme]Lively discussion and thought-provoking reports about and from the African continent.

In this week's program: there's one topic we cannot afford to let go: Zimbabwe. What has happened between the first round of elections in March and today? What's life like in the country? And is there a way out? Or are there no answers to Zimbabwe's depening crisis?And in stark contrast, we have a celebration. 40 years of the Radio Netherlands Training Centre. To mark the occasion, we brought together three formidable journalists, from Uganda, Nigeria and Mozambique. They go head to head in our Big Round Table on media and development.

And to cap it all, we have new music from one of Mali's most talented singer/songwriters.

27 WEDNESDAY 2 JULY Global Perspective (primary programme)

'Living with the Water Wolf' - by Vivien Jones

During the summer months we take a break from RadioBooks to present our annual Global Perspective series. Eight national and international broadcasters give their local perspective on a topic of global interest. This year the theme is Escape.

Over two thousand years ago the Dutch began digging simple ditches to drain water from their boggy ground. With this small act they embarked on millennia of attempting to escape what the 17th century Dutch poet Vondel called "the water wolf." Dutch efforts to escape the threat posed by water on land which is mainly below sea level continue today. "Living with the Water Wolf" is presented by Michele Ernsting.

This week on Curious Orange... it's the second part of our series on classical music, the Dutch way.The host of our Live from the Concertgebouw series Hans Haffmans will, once again, tell us all about the classical music tradition here in Holland. This week we'll hear about contemporary classical music and the festival tradition here in the Netherlands.

Network Europe Extra (repeat programme)Arts and Culture brought to you each Sunday from Europe's widest partnership of international broadcasters.

27 FRIDAY 4 JULYBridges with Africa [new programme]Lively discussion and thought-provoking reports about and from the African continent.

In this week's program: [ more info later ]

Global perspective [Repeat of Wednesday)

'Living with the Water Wolf' - by Vivien Jones

During the summer months we take a break from RadioBooks to present our annual Global Perspective series. Eight national and international broadcasters give their local perspective on a topic of global interest. This year the theme is Escape.

Over two thousand years ago the Dutch began digging simple ditches to drain water from their boggy ground. With this small act they embarked on millennia of attempting to escape what the 17th century Dutch poet Vondel called "the water wolf." Dutch efforts to escape the threat posed by water on land which is mainly below sea level continue today. "Living with the Water Wolf" is presented by Michele Ernsting.(Source: R Netherlands)

Amateur Radio operators throughout the United States have reported hearing an intruder signal -- dubbed Firedrake -- on 20 meters. ARRL Field and Regulatory Correspondent Chuck Skolaut, K0BOG, said he has received reports from Intruder Watch monitors in Texas, Montana, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Colorado, Washington, Nevada and Pennsylvania hearing the jammer on 14.010 and 14.070 MHz. Hams in IARU Region 1 have heard the jammer on 14.000, 14.005, 14.010, 14.030, 14.050, 14.050 and 14.090; Uli Bihlmayer, DJ9KR, Assistant Monitoring Coordinator for Region 1 (IARUMS) said he has had reports of hearing the jammer on three frequencies at the same time.Skolaut said he heard it on 14.070 at 1500 EDT on June 6 from ARRL HQ, but has not confirmed Firedrake on any other frequencies. "We have reported the jammer to the FCC's High Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF) facility in Columbia, Maryland. They have also heard the jammer and have sent a harmful interference report to the Chinese government," Skolaut said. The FCC has no authority to make intruder stations outside the US stop transmitting on Amateur Radio frequencies; such situations typically are dealt with through diplomatic channels."All three IARU regions are coordinating efforts to collect observations and forward them to the proper authorities to follow up on this," Skolaut said. "As you probably remember, this jamming occurred almost two years ago and was primarily heard on 14.260 and 18.160 MHz."W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, said the jammer is interfering with PSK transmission on 14.070 MHz at W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station. "It is sounding clear now, but when the jamming was present, signals peaked around S9 + 5-10 dB, depending on antenna orientation. Weak PSK31 signals -- normally copyable -- were obliterated, with only strong PSK31 signals making it through. So while operating PSK31 was still doable, the interference/jamming greatly curtailed casual operating," Carcia said.According to Bihlmayer, the jammer (whom Region 1 monitors have dubbed Firedrake) plays oriental-type music and originates from the Chinese government in an attempt to block out the Sound of Hope short wave broadcasts. The Sound of Hope refers to itself as "a Chinese language media network providing an alternative to China's state controlled media with news and cultural programming. Radio Free China (RFC) is Sound of Hope's project to reach listeners in Mainland China with programming beyond the control of China's omnipresent blockade of free information."Information on the Intruder Watch program can be found in the June 2007 issue of QST.(Source: ARRL)

The Director-General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, (FRCN), Ben Egbuna, has said that paucity of funds and obsolete equipment remain the major factors militating against it. Fielding questions from newsmen in Bauchi, Egbuna regretted that the Corporation was still faced with the problem of obsolete equipment. He said, “As it is now, we have transmitters that are as old as 40 years which are also analogue while everything in the world has gone digital.”The FRCN boss also lamented that the lack of the modern broadcast equipment have negatively affected the services of the Corporation adding that this can be noted in its poor revenue generation capacity because, according to him, no advertiser will want to place his advert in a not too stable broadcast. However, he said the Corporation has done its best to stay above board, pointing out that a few new pieces of modern broadcast equipment have been procured and installed.He added that the problems faced by the Corporation was that, “our men here are still learning how to manage the equipment. As soon as they are done, our broadcast quality will definitely improve.”On the FRCN Zonal Stations in Ibadan and Enugu, the Director-General declared that, “these are dead because of lack funds to replace the equipment that has gone completely bad. The only shortwave station still on air is Kaduna, that too is down for now due to damage to the transmitter by a rainstorm, but our engineers are right now there trying to fix it and very soon it will come back on air.”(Source: R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

The Zimbabwean newspaper Sunday Mail claims that Voice of Zimbabwe, the county’s world radio station [sic] appears to be reaching all parts of the globe judging by the correspondence it is receiving from countries as far apart as Brazil and India. The newspaper says the station, which broadcasts on shortwave in the 60 metre band (evenings) and 49 metre band (daytime), is also providing Zimbabweans in Binga and other outlying areas that cannot receive FM broadcasts, with a radio service.The paper quotes Voice of Zimbabwe station manager Shadreck Mupeni as saying last week that letters have been received from as far afield as Brazil, Japan, India, Australia, Poland and Greece. Many of them, he claims, are from listeners who have expressed an interest in visiting Zimbabwe, with some of them asking the station to broadcast programmes and advertisements about the country’s tourist attractions. “The letters received recently have all been positive. They have confirmed the signal quality is good.”Voice of Zimbabwe began broadcasting to the world from Gweru on May 25 2007. It is Zimbabwe’s first international broadcast station and currently broadcasts news and news analysis programmes from 6pm to 9pm (1600-1900 UTC). From June 30, it will be broadcasting a repeat of these programmes from 6am to 9am (0400-0700 UTC). During the rest of the day and evening the station broadcasts local music, which has turned out to be a boon for Zimbabweans not only in Binga and Mutoko but anywhere else, if they have a radio that receives shortwave transmissions.(Source: R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

Continued full story at The Sunday Mailhttp://www1.sundaymail.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=815&cat=1

4781.55, Radio Tacana, Tumupasa, Inturralde, La Paz, 2235-0015, Jun 07, 12 and 15, Spanish talks, long piece with a single flute was played, Indian songs, 23332. Only audible in USB due to strong utility noise. (DXC, Gonçalves and Slaen)

Solar activity was very low. No flares were detected. Region 999 (S02, L=206, class/area Hsx/020 on 17 June) was the only spotted region on the disk during the summary period.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels during 16 - 19 June and 22 June.

Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet to active levels on 16 June. Activity decreased to quiet to unsettled levels during 17 - 19 June. Activity increased to quiet to active levels on 20 June. Activity decreased to mostly quiet levels for the rest of the period. ACE solar wind measurements indicated a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream occurred during the period. Velocities increased through early 17 June with a peak of 784 km/sec detected at 17/0248UTC, then gradually decreased through 19 June. Another brief increase in velocities occurred from late 19 June into early 20 June with a peak of 613 km/sec detected at 20/1032 UTC. The velocity increase was accompanied by increased IMF Bt (peak 9 nT at 19/2340 UTC), periods of enhanced southward IMF Bz (minimum -8 nT at 20/0222 UTC), and a minor increase in proton densities. Velocities gradually decreased for the rest of the period and reached a minimum of 408 km/sec by the close of the period.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity25 June - 21 July 2008

Solar activity is expected to be very low.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels during 25 June and 13 - 21 July.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet to unsettled levels during 25 June - 11 July. Activity is expected to increase to active levels during 12 - 13 July due to a recurrent coronal hole high- speed stream. Activity is expected to decrease to unsettled levels during 14 - 17 July as the high-speed stream gradually subsides. Activity is expected to decrease to quiet levels for the rest of the period.

BBC World Service is to close its Romanian language service. The news and current affairs service is proposing to cease broadcasting on 1 August 2008 after 68 years of broadcasting. BBC Romanian broadcasts for almost four hours a day on radio and also runs a complementary website. It is the last of the BBC’s non-English language services specifically aimed at countries that are EU member states.

The change follows a review of BBC World Service’s language service portfolio after its overall funding levels, for the three-year funding period between 2008/09 and 2010/11, were agreed with the UK Government in October 2007. This will be BBC World Service’s only language service closure during this current funding period.

The BBC says this decision, which has been endorsed by the BBC Trust and the FCO, comes after consideration of audience need to continue broadcasts, the changing media landscape in Romania and the declining impact of the service. The changes are also made within the context of the very tight financial framework in which BBC World Service operates.

BBC World Service’s funding settlement gave increased resources for new projects, such as television services for BBC Arabic and BBC Persian. But it also imposed a tough savings target of around 3 per cent per annum to meet rising costs of existing services.

The BBC points out that, over the past decade, the World Service has made continuing efficiency savings of, on average, 2.7 per cent annually which accumulates to £46 million. The scale of the competition in radio and all media has intensified since Romania acceded to the EU in 2007. In addition, mergers have meant that several major FM network partner stations which previously carried BBC Romanian output no longer do so.

These FM partnerships are critical in a country where direct listening to the BBC via shortwave is neither popular nor cost-effective. This has led to a significant drop in audience (currently under 3% of the local radio market in Romania), which could not be countered by the presence of the BBC’s limited number of FM relays.

The BBC says that broadcasts in Romanian for the Republic of Moldova will also cease, as the Moldovan side of the operation cannot be sustained without the infrastructure of BBC Romanian. Romania will continue to be served by other BBC Global News services in English, such as BBC World Service radio, BBC World News television, and online.The BBC’s five local FM relays (four in Romania and one in the Republic of Moldova), which currently broadcast a mixture of Romanian and English programmes, will broadcast English programmes exclusively (plus Russian and Ukrainian in Moldova), subject to agreement with local regulators.

The closure will affect 46 staff (30 in Bucharest in Romania; four in Chisinau in Moldova and 12 in London) and will save £1.3 million per annum.

BBC World Service Director Nigel Chapman said: “Like the other European services we closed three years ago, BBC Romanian had its roots in the Second World War. It has served its audiences with distinction through the Communist era to the present day. The contribution of all BBC Romanian staff has been immense: serving Romanians with innovation and commitment for 68 years.

“The quality of the current output is of the highest standard. But Europe has changed, fundamentally, since the early nineties; and with the rapidly declining audiences in Romania we can no longer justify continuing the service. It is widely acknowledged that BBC Romanian’s presence has contributed to the building of freedoms now enjoyed by Romania’s citizens. We believe this will be a lasting legacy.”

He added: “This was a tough decision but one that is right to ensure BBC World Service continues to put its limited resources where it is most needed. I know that BBC Romanian is full of talented broadcasters and we will do all we can to ensure that the staff in it are treated fairly and sensitively in terms of financial compensation both in and outside the UK. We will strongly support their efforts to find alternative employment.”

This change has been approved by the BBC Trust. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, David Miliband, has also given his approval as he is required to do under the terms of the BBC’s Charter and BBC World Service’s agreement with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.(Source: BBC World Service press office/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

Monitoring Times is a monthly magazine about radio. You, as a broadcaster, ARE radio. In a sense, advertising your station and getting people to listen to it is what you are all about. Our English Language Shortwave Guide section in each month's Monitoring Times is like a phone directory, showing people how to find you. To be sure the information we provide about your station will be accurate, send us your updated frequency list and schedule on a regular basis.

To be sure your information is correct and to keep current with what listeners are hearing and saying, you should also receive Monitoring Times. As long as your station's English language broadcasts are listed in the Shortwave Guide section, you are eligible for a free subscription to the electronic edition of the magazine, called MT Express. Just let us know the name of your station, the contact person and the e-mail address to which we should send notification that the next issue of MT Express is available for download. Send this to us at: editor@monitoringtimes.com.

All we ask is that you place Monitoring Times on your media list to receive schedules, updated and programming and industry news. You may send any information to Rachel Baughn, MTEditor (editor@monitoringtimes.com ) for distribution, or you may send schedules directly to Gayle Van Horn, Frequency Manager (gaylevanhorn@monitoringtimes.com ).Station program producers who find items in MT that might be of use in their programs are welcome to quote from these items as long as they give credit to Monitoring Times.(Source: NASB June 2008)

We are often asked where you can buy shortwave receivers, books and other items in the U.S. Grove Enterprises, which publishes Monitoring Times magazine, is one of the major mail-order providers of shortwave radios and related items in North America. In their current catalog, you will find scanners, receivers, WINRADIO PC-based receivers, antennas, tuners, preamps, filters, multicouplers, speakers, test equipment, books and software. You can download a copy of their current catalog at: http://www.grove-ent.com/html/printed_catalog.html

Celestial Radio is a radio station broadcasting from a crystal ship, The Celeste, its surface coated in sixty thousand mirror tiles. During July, the Celeste will anchor in the harbours of Margate and Folkestone in southern England from where it will broadcast, on 87.7FM, a specially recorded soundtrack.Inspired by the legendary final broadcast in 1974 from the Mi Amigo, one of Radio Caroline’s ships, as well as the last, ill-fated voyage across the Atlantic by conceptual artist Bas Jan Ader, Celestial Radio seeks answers to life’s big questions, making audible the invisible.Taking as its theme ‘Aspirations, Hopes and Dreams’ the soundtrack has been made in response to the coastal landscape of Kent and the history of painters, poets, writers and other visionary thinkers who have populated the landscape at different times.Celestial Radio has already visited Whitstable Harbour, and is due to visit Margate Harbour from 5–8 July and Folkestone Harbour from 19–20 July, during the Folkestone Triennial.

April 2008 Radio Free Asia is proud to announce the release of its 21st QSL card honoring German physicist and radio pioneer, Heinrich Rudolph Hertz (1857 - 1894). Hertz was the first to broadcast and receive radio waves. He demonstrated the existence of electromagnetic waves by building equipment that not only produced radio waves, but also detected them. His experiments with electromagnetic waves led to the development of the wireless telegraph and the radio. His name is also used for radio and electrical frequencies: hertz (Hz). The QSL card will be issued for all valid RFA reception reports from April 1 – June 30, 2008. This is the second in our series of QSL cards honoring radio pioneers. Future QSL cards will include other radio pioneers like Nikola Tesla, Reginald Fessenden, and others.

More information about Radio Free Asia, including our current broadcast frequency schedule, is available at http://www.rfa.org/ . RFA encourages listeners to submit reception reports. Reception reports are valuable to RFA as they help us evaluate the signal strength and quality of our transmissions. RFA confirms all accurate reception reports by mailing a QSL card to the listener. RFA welcomes all reception report submissions at www.techweb.rfa.org (follow the QSL REPORTS link) not only from DX’ers, but also from its general listening audience. Reception reports are also accepted by email at qsl@rfa.org , and for anyone without Internet access, reception reports can be mailed to: Reception Reports, Radio Free Asia, 2025 M. Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036 United States of America. Upon request, RFA will also send a copy of the current broadcast schedule and a station sticker.(Source: NASB June 2008)

NASB associate member TDP Radio brings you the best dance and trance mixes of the moment by talented DJ's worldwide. You can tune in every Saturday to our digital radio broadcasts in DRM as follows:

To Europe from 4 to 6 PM Central European Time (1400-1600 UTC) on 6015 kHz.To North America from 12 to 2 PM Eastern Daylight Time (1600-1800 UTC) on 11900 kHz.Or you can listen to our 24 hour Internet radio station. TDP Radio is an official affiliate member of the DRM Consortium (www.drm.org). DRM is the new digital standard for worldwide radio broadcasting.

TDP Radio is looking for new talent. You can contact our program manager Daniel Versmissen for more information. If you have any questions regarding TDP Radio, feel free to contact one of our staff members:Program Manager: Daniel Versmissen (daniel@tdpradio.com )Technical Manager: Ludo Maes (ludo@tdpradio.com )

The Digital Radio Mondiale website http://www.drm.org/ has, as of May, a dynamic new look. While it remains the most comprehensive and accurate source of information about the DRM standard and global digital radio, the site now has a more user-friendly feel with exciting improvements in design, content and navigation.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Just a short message to inform you that we recently added a new program to our Shortwave and Internet streaming schedule devoted to shortwave listening and communication, as follows:

- DX Party Line, produced by Allen Graham at HCJB, the Voice of the Andes in Quito, Ecuador, aired via IRRS-Shortwave every Saturday evening at 20:45-21:00 CET (1845-1900 UTC, summer) on 7290 kHz, and:

DX Party Line is aired on behalf of IPAR (International Public Access Radio) via our new 150 kW antenna beam to Europe, Middle East and Africa. We welcome comments and reception reports, that we will gladly forward to the producer for verification. Please email: reports (at) nexus (dot) org.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

In an article which will bring a smile to the faces of diehard shortwave listeners, The Economist writes:“Short-wave’s retreat has slowed. Though the BBC’s World Service uses around 15 different technologies to reach its listeners, short-wave is still king: latest figures, published last week, show 105m of its 182m-strong global audience still listen that way, the majority of them in Africa. In Nigeria the short-wave audience even grew slightly last year. That’s not going to change soon: the BBC is upgrading its transmitters on Ascension Island (to be powered, greenly, by a new wind farm). Mike Cronk, a BBC bigwig, says the business case was “compelling”.(Source: R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

A report in the online edition of the Srinagar-based newspaper Greater Kashmir says that the Indian Defence Ministry has directed All India Radio (AIR) to block all radio signals from Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch. To do the initial work, a central team of AIR, intelligence agencies and police arrived in Srinagar on Monday, says the report.Sources say the government plans to install at least a dozen towers on the Line of Control to weaken AJK and Pakistan radio signals. The towers will block all Radio channels along the Line of Control. The team have visited the Behram Gala and Pirbadesar areas of Rajouri and identified locations for installation of towers.Greater Kashmir says Radio Pakistan has good number of listeners in the area, and Mirpur FM Radio and Muzaffarabad Radio are the most popular radio channels in both districts, with 90 per cent people daily reach. These channels have strong signals in the area . They are also popular because FM Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and Tralkhal stations broadcast various programmes in the Gojri anf Pahari languages and 90 per cent people in the twin border districts prefer to communicate in Pahari and Gojri.(Source: Greater Kashmir/R Netherlands media Network Weblog)

Thanks to all the contributors for today's edition of Blog Logs. Have you sent yours in yet ?Gayle VH

Australia2368.5 Radio Symban Untraced this morning when checking at 0820. I had heard them yesterday and the day before with good reception. All monitoring was via a remote tuner in Australia. The station sent me an email confirmation for a report I sent them and explained they were not at full power or modulation yet. Thanks to John Wright in HCDX for his report on this. (H. Johnson, FL/Cumbre DX Jun 14)

Bolivia6155.23, Radio Fides (tentative), 0312-0344, June 15, non-stop Latin American music, poor to fair, never heard any announcements. Would think Radio Banda Orienta (Uruguay) rather unlikely.(R Howard, CA)

China10000 BPM (Time/Frequency Station) 1259 Jun 20. Ten "BPM" CW ID's noted from 1259:00-1259:40. Not very strong so not sure if voice ID's followed. Signal fair at best and under WWV time station. (J. Wilkins,CO)

6060, Sichuan PBS, 1346-1358, June 18, in Chinese with radio drama, fair, // 9740, almost fair with BBC QRM. Both 7225 and 12015 unheard as covered by QRM. (R. Howard, CA, Etón E1)

Clandestine6100, Radio Republica, (Cuba), (pres)0204-0215 Noted a male and female in Spanish Language conversation. Note being a Spanish linguist, I couldn't make out the subject of their comments. Mentions of Cuba often however. Signal was fair. (C. Bolland, FL June 19, 2008)

Equatorial GuineaRadio Africa, 15190, received an email from Robin M. Boggs (Pan American Broadcasting): "We have received many sporadic reception reports from the United States and Europe, receiving this phenomenal signal… During our technical upgrades early 2008, our transmitter was being upgraded to incorporate a stronger and clearer signal… We are going to be implementing additional technical upgrade work on the tower in the next 2 months, this will allow our programming to expand in hours." (R. Howard,CA June 16)

Honduras3250, Radio Luz Y Vida, 0118-0130 Noted music when tuning in, then a couple of minutes of talk in Spanish by a male and back to music by 0122. Signal was fair but the crashes on this band are terrible. (C. Bolland, FL June 19, 2008)

Papua New Guinea3905 Radio New Ireland 1202-1235 Jun 17. Program of vocal music hosted by YL in Pidgin, I think. Still there, weakly, at 1235. (J. Wilkins, CO)

3385, Radio East New Britain, 1230-1257, June 16, in Tok Pisin, ad for auto dealership which had some English (similar to Mark Schiefelbein's nice audio clip at NASWAyg sound files), DJ with pop songs, fair; 1218-1237, June 17, DJ in Tok Pisin playing pop songs in English, seemed to be a dedications program, between songs she gave list of names with their various locations (Solomon Islands, etc.), fair (recently better than their usual reception, as Walt Salmaniw also observed on the 18th). (R. Howard, CA, Etón E1)

3235, 1241-, Radio West New Britain Jun 18 Poor reception with just audible music. A presumed logging for this one. (W. Salmaniw, Canada)

3385, 1234-, Radio East New Britain Jun 18 Strong signal with EZL music and DJ in Tok Pisin.Sounds more like local programming than Radio National, but can't be sure. Continued past 13:00. (W. Salmaniw, Canada)

Peru6019.38, Radio Victoria, 0830-0840 Noted a female and a male in conversation(Spanish), with each other. Between 0800 (if on) and 0857 UTC, Radio Victoria is in the clear. This freq isn't used by others (i.e. CRI, Radio Nederland) until 0900 and later, so depending on the fade pattern, Radio Victoria can be heard pretty easy between 0800 and 0900. This morning is no exception, but the natural noise level is tremendous making copy a "headache" to say the least. The steady comments continued and the signal was poor. (C. Bolland, June 19, 2008)

Singapore6080 Radio Singapore Int'l 1159-1208 Jun 15. Program notes; time check for "8:00" at 1200, then into news in EG. Good signal. The days are numbered for this station. (J. Wilkins, CO)

Sweden6010, Radio Sweden, 0155-0200 Noted the tailend of their English language broadcast with plenty of ID's before they went off at 0159. While on, the signal was good (armchair) here. At 0200 after a brief Interval Signal, the scheduled Swedish broadcast starts. (C. Bolland, FL June 19, 2008)

Thailand15275, Radio Thailand, 0221-0230, June 15, in English, news, info about Queen Sirikit, ad for the Golden Village Restaurant (Chinese food) located in a hotel by the airport, gives the wrong times for their English segment (10:00-10:30 Thai time, 0300-0330 GMT), instead of the actual 09:00-09:30 Thai time, 0200-0230 UT, fair. (R Howard, CA)

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Welcome to our weekly guide to Radio Netherlands Worldwide'sEnglish Service - a list of the new programs coming up on Radio Netherlands Worldwide this week, beginning on Saturday.

SATURDAY 21 JUNE*** The State We're In ***

This week Zimbabwe gears up for a runoff election, but in the current climate of fear and intimidation, is there any chance it will be free and fair? We ask two Zimbabwean human rights workers what they think.

Also, did you know that most people in the world have no bank account or even access to banking services? They are called the 'unbanked'. So we speak with Elizabeth Littlefield, a consultant in banking for the poor, and speak with the unbanked in Chicago, the newly banking in China and the Kenyan slum dweller who banks via her cell phone.

Plus, we speak with Jeroo Billimoria who has made it her life's work to teach banking and financial skills to poor children around the world.

A pan-European team links up across the continent to provide a fresh perspective on events and life in Europe. If you missed any editions of Network Europe Week satisfy your needs with this digest of the programme's top stories.

This week we go classical: I will be joined by the host of our 'Live at the Concertgebouw' series, Hans Haffmans, who'll tell us all about the classical music tradition here in Holland. But it's not all Bach and Beethoven... we've got a few Dutch surprises up our sleeve.

This week Zimbabwe gears up for a runoff election, but in the current climate of fear and intimidation, is there any chance it will be free and fair? We ask two Zimbabwean human rights workers what they think.

Also, did you know that most people in the world have no bank account or even access to banking services? They are called the 'unbanked'. So we speak with Elizabeth Littlefield, a consultant in banking for the poor, and speak with the unbanked in Chicago, the newly banking in China and the Kenyan slum dweller who banks via her cell phone.

The last of our Radio Books competition stories winning an Honourable Mention is by Vivien Jones who lives in Dumfries, Scotland. She's had two poetry chapbooks published and won the Sedberg Short Story Award in 2007.

Her story 'The Importance of Sisters' centres around two lonely women who find comfort in an unlikely location - a little dress shop.

Earthbeat this week looks at why there's a desperate need for naval escorts to take food into Somalia. We hear of a technology that sucks up oil seepage from shipwrecks. We look at the deadly cost of malaria and discover why medicines for this disease that claims millions of lives every year have been so slow to come on the market, and we hear of the treatment of malaria in Myanmar.

A Pan European team links up across the continent each week to provide a fresh perspective on events and life in Europe.

The programme is a unique example of European co-operation, produced by the continent's leading international broadcasters, it reflects the diversity of European society and voices. Each week we drop in on specialists around Europe and catch up with our extensive network of correspondents for their unique take on the events shaping the week.

Election day looms again in Zimbabwe. The run-off between president Robert Mugabe and his challenger Morgan Tsvangirai will be decided. We take another in-depth look.

And: media! We talk with our guests from the Radio Netherlands Training Centre about media and development. Do these two match ever, if at all? We arrange a Rapid Table discussion, in celebration of the RTNC's 40th birthday.

The transmissions of Radio Gloria will be broadcast over the transmitting station Wertachtal in Germany. The transmitter power will be 100 000 Watts, and we will be using a non-directional antenna system (Quadrant antenna).(Source: Tom Taylor)

17.2 Grimeton Radio / SAQ Transmission The annual transmission on Alexanderson Day with the Alexanderson alternator on VLF 17.2 kHz will take place Sunday 29th June 2008 at 0900 UTC (tuning up from after 0800 UTC) and will be repeated at 13:00 UTC (tuning up from after 1200 UTC).

The station will be open to visitors.

Amateur Radio Station with special event call "SK6SAQ" will be QRV0915 -1200 UTC on the following frequencies:- 14035 kHz CW- 14215 kHz SSB

CVC, a division of Christian Vision, has started broadcasting a DRM service from Darwin to China at 0630– 0900 UTC on 17660kHz.(Source: James Serpell, CVC, via DRM software radio forums/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

Thanks to Adrian Sainsbury for the latest A08 schedule updates from Radio New Zealand International. The following changes are effective June 19, 2008. Changes made to the schedule are to improve the station's DRM signal to Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

All times UTC in EnglishAnalogue and DRM services targeted to Pacific regions

Solar activity was very low. No flares were detected. The visible solar disk was spotless until 11 June when Region 998 (S09, L = 291, class/area, Cro/040 on 10 June) was numbered. This region decayed to spotless plage on 14 June, and was still on the visible solar disk as the summary period ended.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal levels through the period.

Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet levels from 09 June through midday on 14 June. Wind speed measurements from the ACE spacecraft were declining from around 450 km/s at the beginning of the period to about 300 km/s early on 14 June. A co-rotating interactionregion was observed on 14 June at approximately 1130Z. Soon thereafter, geomagnetic activity increased to unsettled to minor storm conditions, and remained at this level through 15 June. Wind speeds quickly increased to just below 700 km/s with interplanetary magnetic field Bz component values ranging between +13 and -17 nT. Early on 15 June a transition into a recurrent coronal hole high speed stream occurred. This continued through the end of thesummary period as wind speeds stayed around 650 km/s.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity18 June - 14 July 2008

Solar activity is expected to be very low.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels during 18 - 23 June and again on 13 - 14 July.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at unsettled levels during 18 - 20 June due to a recurrent coronal hole high speed stream. Activity is expected to decrease to quiet levels during 21 - 24 June. Activity is expected to increase to unsettled levels during 25 - 27 June again due to a recurrent coronal hole high speed stream. Activity is expected to decrease to quiet levels during 28 June - 02 July as the coronal hole rotates out of a geoeffective position. Activity is expected to increase to unsettled levels during 03 - 05 July due to another coronal hole high speed stream. Activity is expected to decrease to quiet levels for 06 - 10 July. From 11 July through the end of the period expect unsettled to active conditions due to a coronal hole high speed stream.

Authorities in Zimbabwe have banned wind-up receivers, a favourite among nongovernmental organisations seeking to promote access to information in rural areas. Their presence has often spawned listening clubs accused of tuning in on “illegal” foreign news bulletins broadcast on shortwave. Batteries are almost unavailable in Zimbabwe. Along with satellite dishes, ownership of a wind-up radio is enough to land villagers in trouble. “They have been warned that they must hand in those radios. It has become a subversive tool,” says Rob Jamieson, chairperson of the Southern Africa Editors’ Forum. “It is quite shocking to see the situation in Zimbabwe. No professional media in Zimbabwe can operate,” says Jamieson, who was part of a week-long mission that went to Zimbabwe.

As a reminder to our blog readers, Radio Free Asia has announced that RFA is offering its 21st QSL card honoring German physicist and radio pioneer, Heinrich R. Hertz. This is the second QSL card in their “radio pioneer” series. Heinrich Rudolph Hertz (1857 - 1894) was the first to broadcast and receive radio waves. He demonstrated the existence of electromagnetic waves by building equipment that not only produced radio waves, but also detected them. His experiments with electromagnetic waves led to the development of the wireless telegraph and the radio. His name is also used for radio and electrical frequencies; hertz (Hz). The QSL card will be issued for all valid RFA reception reports from April 1 to June 30, 2008.

Future QSL cards will include other radio pioneers like Nikola Tesla, Reginald Fessenden, and others. RFA encourages listeners to submit reception reports. Reception reports are valuable to RFA as they help the station evaluate the signal strength and quality of transmissions. RFA confirms all accurate reception reports by mailing a QSL card to the listener. RFA welcomes all reception report submissions at www.techweb.rfa.org/ (follow the QSL REPORTS link) not only from DX’ers, but also from its general listening audience. Reception reports are also accepted by email at qsl@rfa.org and for anyone without Internet access, reception reports can be mailed to:Reception ReportsRadio Free Asia2025 M. St. N W - Suite 300Washington DC 20036 USA

Upon request, RFA will also send a copy of the current broadcast schedule and a station sticker(Source: Richard D`Angelo/DXplorer)

Former radio announcers of the Voice of Free Indonesia (VOFI) have criticized contemporary announcers for their low proficiencies in foreign languages, especially English. “They must improve their language skills because the radio programs are broadcast all over the world,” Zuraida “Ida” Rosihan Anwar said on Monday.“Most announcers used to speak more than one foreign language like Dutch, English, French and German, fluently. Today, I see current announcers have limited capacity to speak foreign languages. They should train more,” said Ida, who speaks English and Dutch. Ida, 84, was one of the VOFI’s first announcers.She was speaking at a talk show to celebrate the spirit of independence in conjunction with the radio station’s 62nd anniversary with several of her former colleagues.Read complete story from The Jakarta Post at:http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/06/17/old-radio-hands-reunite-fault-gap-foreign-language-skills.html(Source: R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)